The Mayan experts Mario Aliphat and Rafael Cobos agreed that the western messianic thinking "twisted the worldview of ancient civilizations like the Maya."

In addition, they said, it allowed the "modern prophets" to begin predicting the alleged "end of the world" from the end of an era and the beginning of another, which corresponds to an account in the Mayan calendar. Experts Will Meet to Discuss Mayan Prophecies.

Some 60 specialists in Mayan culture will meet from November 27th to December 2nd at the VII Round Table of Palenque, in a town of the same name, adjacent to the archaeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas, where a special session will take place "to ascertain Mayan prophecies about 2012".

Experts pointed out that only two Mayan glyphic texts, of 15000 known, mention the year 2012; the first of these quotations is in the 6th monument in the archaeological zone of El Tortuguero, in the town of Macuspana, and the second, in the town of Comalcalco, both in the state of Tabasco.

The epigrapher Carlos Pallan, author of a guide to the Mayan calendar says that the ancient Mayan time consisted of concrete cycles, which were personified by animated beings and had their own name, "for example, the 400 years cycle or baktun was represented by a mythological bird.

The Mayan rituals were intended to make the next cycle favorable and there is "certain emphasis" that in 2012 a calendar cycle was to occur, which has been "the core of the confusion," he said. Aliphat and Cobos agree that the whole Mayan ritual system was trying to forecast, "by astronomical observation, the suitable or the wrong dates for planting, harvesting, and even war."

The Mayan Cycles.

According to experts, the Mayas created new cycles of very long duration, which allowed them to calculate dates from earlier, mythical and even future times.

For the Mayas each cycle consisted of 400 years and each was comprised of 13 cycles, totaling 5200 Mayan years (5125 according to the Gregorian calendar), and according to that account, the current era ends on December 23th, 2012 and a new one will start.

Experts said that for the Mayas the end of each era the cosmos regenerates, thus "completing that way a cycle of creation."

In the Table of Palenque, experts will discuss various aspects of the research related to interpretation of the hieroglyphics and about several aspects of the Mayan calendar.